Opera Listens to You

Just like your selfish lover, your narcissist BFF, your entire myopic family, Opera has exploited your sympathetic nature, wailing at you for hours about her needs, her feelings without once asking how YOU were. Now — primed with current psycho-acoustical and neurophysiological research, applied therapeutic strategies, and the listening-based theoretical work of composer Pauline Oliveros,—Opera is finally prepared to LISTEN!
Soprano Juliana Snapper, with ensemble Deviated Septet, will act as Opera’s ears. They will silently receive anything you wish to share and then, in a loud Grand-Guignol of active listening, will mirror, validate and empathize with you as only opera could.

Interdisciplinary artist and soprano vocalist

Juliana Snapper

works at the physical and expressive limits of the operatic voice. Recent projects “prepare” the vocal instrument, altering its functionality and sonic palette by positioning her body in stressful states such as hanging upside down or submerging herself in water. Snapper received her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the Oberlin Conservatory before returning to her native California to pursue a doctorate in Critical Studies/Experimental Practices in Music from the University of California at San Diego. Her concert works, sound installations, and large-scale theatrical performances have been presented by the Los Angeles REDCAT, the Armand Hammer Museum, Machine Project, Human Resources, Participant Inc., X-Initiative, PS1/MoMA, The Guggenheim Museum, and in international music and performance festivals in Europe, Asia and The Americas. Snapper’s projects have received support from The British Arts Council, The Metropolitan Opera Council, The University of California Center for the Humanities, and The Durfee Foundation. Her writing on voice appears in the Journal of European Studies, Encyclopedia A-M, Open Space, and in a forthcoming book on Cathy Berberian.